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BMW

BMW M3 Competition Package

BMW M3 Competition Package

BMW have just announced a new Competition Package that can be added as an option when ordering a new M3. For BMW, pricing is quite inexpensive really, at just £3,315 (AU$5,820). Nothing official from BMW Australia just yet, but you’ll read it here when it’s available.

For your extra cash you get restyled and lighter 19″ alloy wheels, a 10mm suspension drop and re-mapped settings for the Dynamic Stability Control and  Electronic Damper Control which offer “a more enthusiastic driving style“.

The Competition Package will be available for the 2011 model year, which, according to the release below, starts from late March production.

Also being introduced for MY11 is an Auto Start-Stop function. It will be available right across the M3 range and with both manual and DCT transmissions. This brings minor improvements to fuel efficiency and list of revised figures has been provided by BMW.

Included with the release of the M3 Competition Package are a few images of some carbon fibre add-ons, although nothing is said about these in the release below. It would appear these are some extra money-grabbing options that can be added to your M3 to help individualise it from your neighbour’s M3.

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Bathurst 12 Hour BMW

BMW takes out the Bathurst 12 hour

2010 Bathurst 12 hour

The Eastern Creek International Karts BMW 335i driven by Garry Holt, Paul Morris and John Bowe has won a dramatic 2010 Armor All Bathurst 12 hour race. They completed 202 laps in all and finished 3.3 seconds ahead of the East Holiday Parks Mitsubishi EVO IX. It was the second win at the event for Garry Holt and his team who also won the 2007 race.

However, the official winning margin only tells part of the story. The 2010 race was marred by heavy rain which caused a lengthy stint of around three hours behind the Safety Car. Also delaying the race, just as the Safety Car was about to pull in, was a freak incident where a massive gum tree fell and blocked Conrod Straight just after Forrest’s Elbow.

Eric Bana’s Mitusbishi EVO X was also involved in a nasty accident while co-driver Paul Hill was at the wheel. Hill had clipped the wall approaching Reid Park and came to a rest in the middle of the track. An unsighted Dean Herridge, in a Subaru Impreza WRX STi, drove into the back of Hill’s car ending the race for both teams.

There were eight Safety Car periods in all, the last of which caused the race to end under the control of race stewards. Providing some consolation the Safety Car pulled in before the last corner allowing drivers to cross the line at their own pace.

A list of top 10 finishers can be seen below, full results are available on the Natsoft website.

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BMW

BMW gives X5 a facelift – due down under in June

2010 BMW X5

BMW have just lifted the wraps off its facelifted X5 range. Australian customers will be able to get up close and personal with the changes in June.

A new line-up of engines, design tweaks and driver assistance systems headline the changes to the car that has topped the sales sheets of the luxury SUV segment in Australia for the past seven years.

Expect Australian specifications and equipment levels to increase over the current model. These details and pricing will be announced closer to local release.

A detailed press release from BMW Australia and enough pictures to keep you happy can be found after the jump. The international release can be downloaded in PDF format HERE (1.9mb). For more detailed coverage of the new X5, check out BimmerFile.

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New vehicle sales report – January 2010

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January 2010 showed good signs for the automotive industry in Australia. While sales for the month did fall dramatically from December 2009 it is worth noting there were strong financial incentives, in the form of Federal Government tax breaks, that saw many businesses rushing to buy cars before the program ended on 31 December.

More importantly, the 74,864 new vehicle sales for January 2010 represents a healthy increase of 11.6% compared to the same month last year. Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries Chief Executive Andrew McKellar believes the new cut in import tariffs has helped kick the year off, “New car affordability is better than ever and has been further enhanced by the tariff cut on many imported vehicles,” he said.

“New car buyers have effectively been handed a ‘tax cut’ and many brands have moved quickly to reduce prices or increase vehicle specifications. As a result, it is expected that this will encourage private buyers to return to the marketplace in greater numbers throughout the year,” Mr McKellar said.

Toyota, Holden and Ford maintained recent tradition as the top three selling marques.

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BMW The European

The European: Blind truth

AUSmotive.com - The European
BMW 5 Series

The new BMW 5 series has recently been unveiled to the motoring press in Portugal. As luck would have it, The European was there to sample the new F10 first hand. That’s me above and, thankfully, the editor agreed to put boxes over my face to protect my identity.

The great post-Bangle debate has already begun the as Adrian van Hooydonk emerges with a new language for this most iconic of sedans. As other scribes chair that agenda, I would like to quietly offer readers of this blog an exclusive first drive instead. Don’t ever say we here at AUSmotive fail to bring you the very latest European automotive news.

Sitting in the new Five is much like the old, with a stylish wraparound dash that is more driver focused than the previous model’s, the driving position just so. As soon as we’re underway it’s apparent that the Five has evolved into perhaps the ultimate expression of BMW’s driving experience with perfectly weighted controls and excellent response to all inputs. Some worried that the move to electric rather than hydraulic steering would diminish the sort of tactile feedback that BMW has worked so hard to perfect but they need not have—it’s sensational and a lesson to others who have tried and failed to inject any sort of feel into their systems (are you listening Mercedes?).

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BMW

2010 BMW X1 – Australian pricing

2010 BMW X1

BMW Australia have just announced the pricing and predicted model range for the new X1. The little BMW SUV, sorry Sports Activity Vehicle, will go on sale locally on 10 April and list pricing starts at $43,500 for the rear wheel drive only sDrive18i manual. The line up will be topped by the all-wheel drive xDrive23d auto priced from $59,280.

You might be wondering why BMW, who have just given us the MINI Countryman, are releasing yet another soft-roader in this small-car market? The answer is obvious, as this sentence straight from the press release points out, “The BMW X1 is the first premium vehicle of its kind to offer the driving pleasure so characteristic of a BMW X model in the compact segment.” Okay, then.

Further details and a whole heap of X1 images can be viewed after the jump.

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Magical museum tour

Porsche Museum

Doing the “German Car Museum Tour” is on the “to do” list of most petrol heads. In relatively close proximity you have Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche. While, further north, in Wolfsburg is the superb Autostadt, Volkswagen’s celebration of itself and its multiple brands.

Stephen Williams from the New York Times is one guy lucky enough to have experienced this magical museum tour of late. He wasn’t able to fit in the Autostadt as well, but crossing the others off the list is a delight most would like to experience.

Here is a teaser of Williams’ findings, you can read his full article following the link below, “Devoting a day, give or take, to each museum and the accompanying attractions—usually a gift shop, bistro or cafe, and a delivery center for people who pick up their new toys at the factory—I came away with different impressions. ‘Cars are cars, all over the world,’ Paul Simon sang. But they’re not—and neither are car museums.”

[Source: New York Times]

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BMW

BMW 3 Series GT rendering

BMW 3 Series GT

BMW hopes to broaden the appeal of its volume selling 3 Series platform by adding a new Gran Turismo iteration. It was rumoured early last year that such a car might have debuted at last year’s Frankfurt Motor Show. But the closest we’ve come is recent reports of the 3 Series GT being spied in testing (follow link below).

Inspired by BMW’s own 5 Series Gran Turismo the 3 GT’s closest rival will be Audi’s A5 Sportback. The timing of BMW’s latest GT is uncertain, but expect sometime in 2012.

[Source: Autocar]

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BMW

Estate of the art

BMW 5 Series Estate rendering

Following the reveal of the F10 BMW 5 Series last November comes this artist’s rendering of an Estate version. There’s not much else to report, other than the Estate version should be released by BMW later this year.

For more on BMW’s new 5 Series click here.

[Source: Auto Evolution]

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New vehicle sales report – December 2009

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According to official VFACTS figures released earlier today new vehicle sales in Australia for 2009 reached 937,328, an overall drop of 7.4% compared to 2008.

November’s cracking results showed the motor industry was well on the way to financial recovery and  December followed suit registering 88,708 sales. Which sets a new record for the month.

FCAI Chief Executive Andrew McKellar acknowledged the role of the Federal Government’s tax incentives for businesses in returning better than expected yearly figures, “The final outcome for the year has surpassed the industry’s original expectations by some 57,000 vehicles and a significant proportion of this additional volume can be attributed to the tax break.”

Toyota (200,191), Holden (119,658) and Ford (96,501) were the top three selling marques. Toyota’s stranglehold on top spot looks very secure, despite the highest selling car in Australia for 2009 being the Holden Commodore (44,387). The Corolla (39,013) and HiLux (38,457) rounded out the top three selling models nationwide.

Other notable performers were Audi, Mitsubishi and Volkswagen. But it seems most manufacturers have a positive spin to sell and a raft of press releases to that affect follow this article.

Audi, intent on chasing BMW for the top selling prestige marque, concluded 2009 with their fifth year of growth. Impressively, the German brand bettered last year’s record by over 20% while recording 11,310 sales. A perfect end to the local career of Audi Australia’s managing director, Joerg Hofmann. The hard task master will be returning home to Germany at the end of this month—see carsales interview from December 2009.

Mitsubishi have put the corpse of the Magna well behind it, achieving best ever annual sales for the Lancer (21,362) and Triton (18,182).

Volkswagen improved on its 2008 record year by selling over 30,000 vehicles for the first time under the Volkswagen Group Australia banner.

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BMW Past master

Past master: BMW 700 – Der wagen mit profil

BMW 700

A couple of weeks ago I came across the rather quaint advertisement above for the BMW 700. What started as an idea to post up a simple ad with a paragraph or two has taken me on a journey of discovery for the BMW 700. I have found some great historic photo and video material, along with an extensive press release from BMW, celebrating the car’s 50th anniversary.

Despite the 1960s advertising claims, the BMW 700 is the lowest profile car featured in AUSmotive’s Past master series, but it is perhaps one of the most important, at least as far as BMW is concerned anyway.

First, some more about this little car that could. The 700 was built from 1959–1965 with over 190,000 units sold by the end of production. The two door Coupé was derived from the unsuccessful 600 model. It was the first production BMW to utilise a monocoque chassis construction. The 700, as it’s name suggests, was powered by a 700cc engine (697cc to be precise), but that’s where the normal convention ends. By today’s standards the small car took the unconventional format of fitting the engine in the rear of the car and, more unconventionally, the engine was a boxer-style two cylinder unit.

The 700 Saloon and Coupé made their debut at the 1959 Frankfurt Motor Show and at launch the engine produced 30 horsepower. The Coupé version was capable of powering the car to 100km/h in 30 seconds, before reaching a top speed of 125km/h. That sounds almost amusing by current performance expectations, but in 1959 it was setting new benchmarks. Here’s what one motoring journo said at the time, “You have the feeling that you’re sitting in a car with genuine sporting values, but without the rather harsh ride and limited space so typical of most sports cars.”

The 700 was an immediate success for BMW and it helped steer the company away from financial trouble, starting a new era of prosperity. In 1960, waiting lists for the car had blown out to several months, but BMW still sold 35,000 examples. This accounted for 58% of the annual revenue.

BMW used the 700 to provide sporting success, too, by making a roadster style 700RS model. It is a stunning looking car. With a tubular space frame and an aluminium body the RS model had 70 horsepower. Again, not big numbers, but with the car itself weighing just 600kg and top speeds approaching 200km/h it’s no surprise to read the car achieved notable results, including the 1961 German Circuit Championship for Walter Schnieder. Hans Stuck, father of Hans-Joachim Stuck, also won the 1960 German Hillclimb Championship in a 700 RS.

In 1962 BMW extended the wheel base by 32cm to make the 700 LS. Indeed, my first experience of the BMW 700 was at the 2008 German Autofest in Canberra where a 700 LS Luxus won best in show, you can see some pics of this car at the end of this article.

A series of fantastic period advertisements for the car can be seen after the jump, along with a number of images, all accessible in wallpaper-friendly sizing by clicking on the pics you like. More on the BMW 700 can be found at BMW700.net (not accessible with Firefox, use Explorer on PC or Safari on Mac OS). Enjoy!

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BMW

BMW Z4 sDrive35is returns serve to TT RS

BMW Z4 sDrive35is

BMW will be returning Audi’s TT RS serve with their own 250kW Roadster to debut at January’s Detroit auto show. The awkwardly named Z4 sDrive35is lines up against the TT RS with alarming similarities. Power, 250kW; check. Torque, 450Nm; check. Ride height, 10mm lower than standard car; check. Wing mirrors, matte aluminium finish; check. Zero to one hundred time, under 5 seconds; check.

It is worth noting, of course, that one major difference between the two cars is BMW’s use of its familiar and well loved straight six cylinder engine, as against Audi’s oddball yet delightful sounding five cylinder. With twin turbo goodness to whoosh things along, the Z4 sDrive35is can momentarily boost peak torque to 500Nm with an overboost function.

The world of double clutch transmissions has consumed the sDrive35is, which will be only be available with BMW’s latest 7-speed DCT.

BMW Australia have confirmed the Z4 sDrive35is will be in local dealerships by May 2010. Currently 44% of local Z4 sales are for the regular 225kW sDrive35i, which was priced at $116,900 when launched in May this year. The cost of an extra s in the model designation will be revealed closer to its Australian launch. Mind, with Audi Australia just announcing pricing of the TT RS at $133,700 you can safely assume what sort of entry price the Z4 sDrive35is will have.

As usual, there’s more pics and a heap of press guff after the break.

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